In a controversial video now percolating its way through the web, a woman who was filming herself stand-up paddling in India with a GoPro purportedly lost the hero-inducing camera in the surf, only to find it in a tide pool seven hours later with a memory card full of underwater coverage.

Many who have seen the video claim that it's staged, and it very may well might be, but in the end, who cares? She catches a wave I would love to find myself on, she gets underwater footage of sand crabs, the whole saga is perfectly set to music, and it's all tied together with her victoriously finding the camera in what appears to be a sunset filled with glee.

I've lost GoPros surfing before, and it's never fun. Actually, it pretty much ruins your day. I am happy for this girl for a number of reasons (main one being she's stand-up paddling in India), and whether or not a GoPro Hero 2 can actually hold seven hours of battery or whether the ending was staged or not, this video makes me feel good and makes me want to go to the beach.

What do you think? Staged? Real? Or who cares?

Filed under: Paddling, Surfing, Gear, Asia, India